The South Sudan National Security Service on Friday evening stormed Singata FM, community radio in Kapoeta town in Eastern Equatoria State, and forcefully shut it down.

According to eyewitnesses and the staff at the station, the heavily armed security operatives carried padlocks to lock the studios and offices and ordered the staff to shut down all computers and get out of the compound without giving any reasons.  

The station’s manager, Evelyn Losike, told Radio Tamazuj that none of her staff members was tortured or arrested and wondered why they were shut down because they had not breached any law.

“It does not have anything to do with ethics because we are private media house, it is our right. They came in a big number and surrounded the radio station,” Losike said. “I was away and found a lot of padlocks on the studio and offices. They found the staff editing the news. They just told them to stop what they are doing, shut down their computers, and asked them to put off the station and they closed it.”

She said the radio was shut down on the orders of the state information minister who claims to have evidence of malpractices and that the station manager and the chief executive officer have been ordered to go to Torit and meet the state governor, Gen. Louis Lobong.

“We do not have any problem with the government, the only thing is that we had no slot for the Equatoria International University when they came (15 October) to assess the place (station) and wanted a talk show and I told them that I can give them between 5 and 7 pm which is free but they refused,” Losike explained. “They wanted us to forcefully put them in at a slot occupied by the civil society coalition for a natural resources talk show. I told them that it is difficult to cancel because it was paid for already.”

She added: “I resisted and that was the only issue. They said I am going beyond the government. These people came with the governor so they said I do not have respect and a lot of things. That is the issue.”

Ngoya Yaba, a civil society activist in Kapoeta said he was dismayed by what he termed as an attack on the community by closing only media house in the area and demanded that government reopen the radio station which the community relies on for information.

“This is a very big disgrace to us as youths and civil society activists in greater Kapoeta. It shocked our minds when we heard that the radio has been shut down and this is the only radio which has been feeding the whole greater Kapoeta community with information,” Yaba said. “This is not a very good action taken against the community since this is a community radio, the only media access that has been helping them for all this time.”

He added: “My demand is that let them reopen the radio, let the people of greater Kapoeta continue with the normal services that Singata FM has been giving them.”

Efforts to reach the state information minister for comment were futile as he did not answer his phone.